To effectively stake their claim in the wild, animals spray their urine on trees, plants, and patches of ground surrounding their desired territory. The acting community uses a similar tactic to nab roles, swapping out pee for a well-timed red carpet quote.
In the jungle of Hollywood, landing a major part is a survival of the fittest competition. Even the men and women at the top of the food chain have to leave their mark.
Bradley Cooper is the latest actor to enter into the tricky world of public role campaigning, connecting himself to an upcoming Lance Armstrong biopic produced by J.J. Abrams. Unlike a cougar tinkling on a nearby bush, slipping casting suggestions into the swirling rumor pool is a subtle art.
Cooper originally told the BBC that he would love to play the controversial biker, only later to state that he wasn't even aware that Abrams was producing a film based on the athlete's life. Unfortunately, the matter complicated itself for Cooper when Abrams revealed at the Producer's Guild Awards that Cooper had sent him a personal e-mail regarding the movie. Cooper may insist he's not chasing the part, but you can bet the other A-List badgers smell his scent all over it.
RELATED: Bradley Cooper Wants To Play Lance Armstrong: Why He's Perfect
When it comes to publicly courting roles, it's all about recognizability. Actors and actresses aren't making a big to-do about nabbing the the lead in a drug addiction indie film or the most recent adaptation of that 18th century novel everyone read in high school. No, they want the part audiences have already heard of; in Hollywood, that's either the biopic or the superhero blockbuster.
Thanks to the wonders of Internet, speculative campaigning can spread like wildfire. Rihanna says she wants to play Whitney Houston in a non-existent biopic instantly begins fueling the idea of Rihanna playing Whitney Houston in a biopic.
Last year, Drake told the NY Post that he'd love to play Obama. He was even preparing for the role, one that no one is asking him to take on. "I watch all the addresses. Any time I see him on TV, I don't change the channel. I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions."
The self-campaigning doesn't end at mere suggestion. To put himself in front of F. Gary Gray's eyes in hopes of landing the lead in the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton, up-and-comer Ephraim Benton filmed a 13-minute video where he impersonates the group's frontman Eazy E. Will it work? Or rather, is it good enough to help his chances?
Attempting to spin exposure into a real life audition rarely works. Most memorably was Sean Young's failed attempts at courting Tim Burton to cast her as Catwoman in Batman Returns.
After being cast as Vicki Vale in the original Batman and losing the role after a horse riding incident, it was Young's prerogative to rejoin the franchise. She even dressed up in costume and making the media rounds to catch Burton's attention. Here she is discussing the role on Joan Rivers' talk show in 1992:
With comic book movies dominating the multiplexes, it's no surprise that famous faces continue to publicly declare themselves fans of caped crusaders in hopes of sparking interest in their casting.
RELATED: Lance Armstrong Confesses to Doping — Could He Face a Perjury Charge?
In 2011, at the height of Marvel fever (and a year out from Avengers), Patrick Dempsey told the LA Times he was anxious to take the lead in a proposed Doctor Strange film. “I’ve been lobbying for that. There’s a whole bunch of people [among the Grey's crew] who are into comics and Marvel, too, on the set and they’re like, ‘Doctor Strange, that’s the one you should do.’ It would be fantastic."
The movie has been teased as a potential post-Avengers 2 project — will Dempsey still be marketable by 2016? Joining the actor in his Marvel praise is Friday Night Lights and Hart of Dixie star Scott Porter, who he recently threw himself into the ring for the role of Nova in Guardians of the Galaxy. He may not get his wish, as the character was not even included in Marvel's announced line-up. That's serious display of ambition on Porter's part.
Some actors go the extra step. Isaiah Mustafa, aka the "Old Spice commercial guy," was so driven to bring Marvel's genetically enhanced hero Luke Cage to screen, he went ahead and used his deodorant money to fund a fake trailer for the movie. Now, casting agents know what Mustafa looks like with glowing eyes:
Hung star Thomas Jane was vocal about his diehard passion for comic books and The Punisher character before taking on the role in the 2004 adaptation. So it's not surprising that when he wasn't asked to return for the sequel, 2008's Punisher: War Zone, he left with a chip on his shoulder.
Hoping to prove himself Hollywood's one and only Punisher, Jane reprised the character in a self-produced short film that he premiered under the radar at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. The film boldly tells Hollywood to screw themselves... but also to consider rehiring him for a new Punisher feature.
This isn't to say that publicly campaigning for a coveted role never works. Monday may have been an example of the strategic move blowing up in one actor's face, but it also proved that it can work in the right hands. In 2011, Paul Giamatti told Conan O'Brien that he was dying to star in a Spider-Man movie as the over-the-top villain The Rhino.
RELATED: Andrew Garfield on 'Spider-Man' Costume Changes, Superhero Responsibilities
Late Monday afternoon, we confirmed that Giamatti's wish has indeed been granted: the actor will suit up for Amazing Spider-Man 2. Giamatti is one Hollywood wolf who knows how to mark his territory... proving once and for all that rhino urine leaves the harshest stench.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: WENN]
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Saturday Update: On Friday "Ice Age: Continental Drift" had a stellar N. American debut taking in $16.5 million which could give it a better-than-expected $45 million plus for the weekend! This puts "The Amazing Spider-Man" in second place for Friday with around $10.2 million and an expected $35 million for the weekend. Rounding out Friday's Top 5 is "Ted" with $6.8M/just over $20M for wknd., "Magic Mike" with $3.415M/around $10M for wknd. and "Brave 3D" with $3.257M/around $11M for the wknd.
This from Friday, July 13: Only one new wide release opener hits screens this weekend as the fourth installment in the insanely successful “Ice Age” franchise from Twentieth Century Fox, Ice Age: Continental Drift (read our Ice Age review) hits 3,880 theaters in its North American debut. The film has been playing in international territories since the weekend of June 29 when it shattered box office records on its way to a $78 million opening weekend from 9,505 screens and #1 debuts in all 34 markets. The film has taken in over $200 million to date even before setting one big animated foot in North American theaters where family audiences have had a seemingly insatiable appetite for high profile animated 3D films. A case in point: When Disney’s Brave entered the marketplace and its opening weekend was bigger-than-expected, Paramount/Dreamworks “Madagascar 3” still performed well without taking the anticipated third weekend dramatic and competition induced drop (it dropped a mere 42%).
Impressively, the “Ice Age” franchise has taken in a whopping $2.1 billion-plus at the worldwide box office and nearly $600 million in North America. In addition, the first three films including March 2002’s “Ice Age” ($46.3M opening) , March 2006’s “Ice Age: The Meltdown” ($68M opening) and July 2009’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” ($41.7M opening) all performed like champs drawing huge numbers of kids and parents to North American theater screens. Keeping in mind that there are two animated films still playing in the marketplace (including of course the aforementioned "Brave" and also "Madagascar 3"), an expected opening weekend gross in line with the first and third installments is to be expected in the $40 million range. Of course the always tough to track family audience could push this latest version to even greater heights.
Of course "Ice Age" will have to climb over a very tenacious spider to get there with Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man re-boot starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone enjoying a terrific domestic and international run in theaters around the world. The film hit the $400 million mark worldwide on Wednesday, July 11 and also edged near the $160 million threshold in North America on the same day. The film had a pre Fourth-of-July record Tuesday opening day gross of over $38 million on July 3, earned $62 million for its Friday through Sunday and $137.0 million for its first six days in North America where it continues to elicit strong word-of-mouth and critical praise. An expected second weekend gross that is difficult to project due to the Tuesday debut over a week ago could give it a gross in the $30 to $40 million range and put it in the hunt for first place. No matter what happens, with over $400 million in the bank no one is crying for Spidey!
This brings us to that adorable, foul-mouthed and much beloved teddy bear of Seth MacFarlane’s Ted. The Universal Pictures release will enjoy another great weekend that will bring the R-rated comedic fantasy another $18 to $20 million in funny bear stuffing and push it well over the $150 million mark in North America by Sunday night. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, the unadulterated goofiness of the concept has had audiences buzzing for weeks as the date-crowd continues to line up at theaters. The red band trailer, a great overall marketing campaign as well as social networking buzz helped push the film into the record books with the biggest R-rated comedy non-sequel debut ahead of the original “The Hangover” ($44.979M) and the third highest R-rated comedy debut ever behind just "The Hangover 2" ($85.9M) and "Sex and the City" ($57.038M).
Disney/Pixar’s 13th movie release, “Brave” in 3D will enter its fourth weekend with over $180 million as it continues to hit the box office bullseye in North America with a likely weekend gross of around $10 to $11 million. No question that the number one film will provide formidable competition to this veteran of the family marketplace and thus it may have to battle Warner Bros.’ Magic Mike and Universal’s Savages in a box office pole dance for fourth place bragging rights.
That said, “Savages” has a shot at a second weekend gross of around $9 million while “Magic Mike” in its third weekend should strip another $7 to $8 million from willing viewers after a taking a 60 percent drop last weekend to round out the Top 5.
Nevertheless, it should be another fun-filled summer ride at the nation’s theaters as the “something for everybody” axiom certainly applies and a rabid fanbase gears up for their storming of movie theaters around the world with the debut of perhaps the most anticipated movie of the year, The Dark Knight Rises from Warner Bros. on July 20.
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The film, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, opened in Britain on 3 July (12) and by the end of the weekend (07-08Jul12) it had garnered takings of $17.6 million (£11 million).
The blockbuster bumped animated children's movie Ice Age 4: Continental Drift into second place ($1.1 million/£719,769), while romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement pulled in $823,523 (£514,702) to hang on to third place.
Katy Perry's 3D concert movie Part of Me debuted at four with $719,185 (£449,491), while Will Smith's Men in Black 3 dropped one place to five ($623,764/£389,853).

The film, starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, opened to rave reviews on Tuesday (03Jul12), taking in a record-breaking $7.5 million (GBP4.7 million) in midnight ticket sales alone - and the project has continued to draw crowds over the weekend, bumping last week's winner, Ted, to second place with earnings of $32.6 million (GBP20.3 million).
Animated family film Brave hangs onto third with $20.2 million (GBP12.6 million), while Blake Lively's Savages has debuted at four ($16.2 million/GBP10.1 million) and Channing Tatum's stripper movie Magic Mike dropped to five ($15.6 million/GBP9.8 million).
Katy Perry's concert movie and biopic, Katy Perry: Part of Me, failed to break into the top five, amassing a meagre $7.2 million (GBP4.5 million).

With great reviews and solid word-of-mouth it looks like Sony's reboot of the "Spider-Man" franchise The Amazing Spider-Man is on track to earn an impressive $60 to $65 million for the Friday through Sunday portion of the weekend and $160 to $165 million for the six day total for Tuesday through Sunday. After a record-breaking Tuesday gross of $35,850,000 the film has steadily built an audience throughout the week.
Here is the daily breakdown:
Tuesday - $35.850M
Wednesday - $$23.4M
Thursday - $15.8M
Friday - $20.7M
Projected weekend (F-S-S) - $60 to $65M
Projected 6 days (Tue. - Sun.) - $135 to $140M
The rest of the Friday Top 5 breaks down as follows:
1. Spider-Man - $20.7M/$95.7M
2. Ted - $10.5M/$98.1M
3. Brave 3D - $6.238M/$160.6M
4. Magic Mike - $6.135M/$63.3M
5. Savages - $5.7M/$5.7M Katy Perry: Part of Me which opened Thursday debuted in 7th place with $2.7M on Friday and a Thursday/Friday total of $5.8M.
Box office was up about 25% over the same Friday a year ago when "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was in its second weekend.
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